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M. SMOLIKJ CLOTHES LINE STRETCHER. APPLICATIQN FILED- JULY 11. 1911.

Patented 1m 4, 1917.

rATENT FFI a M "ie seme re ri ese re-w To azzwhom.aw /whim fBe itknoawntha-t' L MhqiHiAs SMOLtK, aciti'zen of the United States, and i residingin the city. of Pittsburgh, the .i county of. Allegheny and State ofPennsylvaniaghave.

invented or discotered new and useful Improvements inClothes-Line:Stretchers,---o f vices. for that purpose,'a form of whichisshownz'in Letters '-Paten;t :Ofnthe. United States No. 1,223,908,:granted tome" on Aipril= In my; present invention I have:=p.rovided anwhen the. intermediate-pant ofethe clothes line is'raised,;as by-meansof a clothes-pole orprop, the line is not disengaged fromrthe stretcher,as is the lease with .stretchersof this type now on" the market, butthe. clamp..-

ing-efiecton the line. is: maintaineds..unifir-. paired. I- .alsoproivide new andrmproved means: for preventing the-accidentaldisengagement of the loose, end ofvthe linefrom thBslOWBI end'oftheclamping lexreri'.

Other novel 1 and useful: features .of .c'on. stnuction and arrangement,of parts will appear from thef-ollowing descriptions In theacconapanyingqdrawingsr, Figure-1 is a side elevation showing aclothesnltinesecuredvby my, improved: stretcher and, the intermediateportion of the line elevated by a clothes line prop; Fig. 2 is a frontelevation -o-f the stretcher; 3 is a bottom plan View of the same, whileFig. 4 is a bottom pla'n view showing a modification, the lower end ofthe lever beng swung away from-the base plate for the sake of clearness.

I The following is a detailed description of the drawings.

A is a base plate, which may be stamped or a casting, and which may beattached to a vertical surface or support, as the post B, by means ofscrews 1. The upper portion of said plate is bifurcated, as at 2, andadjacent to their bases the bifurcations 2 are provided withhorizontally alined, outwardly extend-- ing bosses 3 i which are piercedby alined pivot pin holes 4.

C is the clamping lever thickened intermediate of its ends and providedwith a transverse pin hole 5, and 6 is a headed pin inserted through thepin holes 4 and 5 and i I Speciiicationpf Letters'l ifatq nt.

' Applicationfiled-July 17,1917.- Seria1;No..1$0,'973;.

improved .and cheapened; form -:of. stretcher which includes meanswhereby,-

QP-Q E I-tiN TREiQH a Patented Dec. 4;, 1 9117,

riveted" atits other end :to. pivotally mount the lever U upon the plateA. Thelower end of ithe-lever is shorter, preferably, than its upperend, and'is provided with an-integral cross bar 7 whose ends,--:wl1enthelower end of said lever is swung-in toward the plate A, fitbetween the outwardly extend-- ing flangesS formed integral-with theplate A, thus preventingthe lateral escapeof-the end of-the clothes linefro-m beneath the cross bar 7. Iii-Fig.- I have shown these fianges madeintegral with the ends of the .cross bar 7,- instead of the plate A, andextending inwardly, so as to inclose the plate A;=between them when thelower endaof the lever isswung inwardly, thus serving the same purposeof preventing the escapeof-the end of the line. w

The upper end of the lever C, whichis preferably the longer end .to giveincreased downwardly to form a pocket-in which the clothes line isengaged when the stretcher is.in=use.

In practice, theolothes :line is inserted downbetween the fingers 9 andmend-Seats within the curved finger 10 and'thejend-of theline is pulleddownwardly the desired degree of .tautness isiinparted totheintermediate portion of the clothes line, The loose end isthen inserted:under the cross bar 7 and the strain.- hitherto exerted onthe end ofthe. clothes line released. The strain or tautness of the intermediateportion of the clothes line with-by the'pulzl exerted onthe upper'end ofthe lever C force the lower end of said lever inwardly, thus clampingthe end of the clothes line in such a manner that it will support theintermediate portion of the same without permitting the latter to loosenor slacken.

Were but a simple fork or yoke provided at the upper end of the lever C,the use of a clothes pole or prop D, to raise the intermediate portionof the clothes line, marked E, would lift the line out of engagementwith said yoke or fork of the lever, or so lessen the strain, that thelower end of the lever could not longer maintain a tight grip on the endof the line, and thus the clothes line and its burden of washing wouldbe precipitated to the ground. However, the

curved or circular finger 10 so engages and incloses the clothes line,that cannot es cape from the uppefendof the lever, and the raising ofthe intermediate portion, of the line would not release said line fromnga e t Wi hlthp aws but h pp e'ridbf the lever will still be pulledoutwardly by the intermediate L'POI'tiOII of the.

. I provided'the cross bar on the lower end of the leverwith pins orlugs which entered sockets in the base plate to prevent the lateralescape of the clothes line end, but my presentform of engagement is muchmore positive inaction and operation is not impaired by any looseness orplay between the lever and its base plate. The method ofpivotally-mounting the lever upon the base plate is much-cheaper and thelever is hetmov'ement; he device may be cheaply manufactured tobe soldat a small price, but is strongly constructed so as not to readily breakor wear out.

What I desire to claim is l..In a clothes line stretcher of thecharacter described, the combination ofa base plate adapted to besecured to a support, and a clamping. lever pivoted intermediate of itsends to'said plate,"the upper'end of said lever being provided withafinger curved to'form a pocket with a lateral mouth for the linewhereby either an upward or downward strain by said line upon the upperend of said lever will draw the same outwardly from-said plate and thelower end of said lever being provided with means for clamptermaintained in its proper plane of swingin the end of the line againstsaid plate,

su stantiallyas described.

2. In a clothes line stretcher of the character described, thecombination of a base plate adapted to be secured to a support,

Goplos o! this'patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing'the Commissioner of Patent-s r:

and a clamping lever pivoted intermediate of itsendsto late, the upperend of said lever b'ei'ng bi 'rbated to form a pair of fingers,.one ofsaid fingers being bent inwardly and downwardly to form a pocket for theline whereby either an upward or downward strain by said line upon theupper end of said; lever will draw the same outwardly from said platewhile the other finger extends upwardly as a -gu'ide, and the lower endof said lever being provided with means for clamping the end of saidline against said" plate, substantially as described. a

3. A clothes line stretcher comprising a base adapted to be attached toa vertical support, and a lever pivotally mountedintel-mediate of itsends on the front face of said support, the upper end of said leverbebase adapted to be attached to a vertical sup 7-5.

port and a-lever pivotally mounted intermediate of its ends on the frontface of said support, then per end of said lever being bifurcated to ormtwo integral fingers, one

of said fingers being curved inwardly and downwardly leaving a "clothesline entrance;- between it and the other finger while. the.- otherfinger extends upwardl toform-a guide for the insertion of said clothes.line and the lower end of said lever being en larged so as-tqclamp theends of said clothes line substantially as and for the purposes setiorth.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Penna, this 11th day ofJuly-,1917;

MA'rHIAs sraronirK-Qv Washington, 11:0.

